After the daytime talk show host caused quite the stir a week ago when she said her husband of more than 20 years is "immediately mean" to her after "grown-up time," she is backtracking on the comment.

"I'm sorry! I was joking," she proclaimed during Wednesday's show alongside Consuelos. "This is a funny, irreverent show. I didn't realize that it would become trending news."

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In fact, it was because the story was trending that Mark even realized something had gone awry when he co-hosted with his wife last Wednesday.

"I laughed. I didn't refute it because I thought it was the most ridiculous thing I ever heard," he recalled of his reaction at the time.

The next day, the actor was on set in Dallas for a project when his phone started going off with texts from friends asking him if the comment was true. Soon, he noticed the headline trending on his news apps.

A week later, he wanted to clear the air with his wife and the world. "I just wanted to set the record straight that no one can be mean after something if they are unconscious," he declared today. "I sleep."

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Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, Ripa joked her husband is overcompensating a bit. "Now, he's oddly attentive," she told the audience. "There's odd conversations like, 'Do you want to watch the Real Housewives?' 'What do you want to do?' 'Would you like pizza?' 'Can I get you flowers?'"

"She's not wrong," he responded, acknowledging that the comment did make him just a touch concerned. "In every joke there's a bit of truth."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Ripa echoed. "It's cute watching you try to stay awake, too, because I know all he wants to do is fall right to sleep."

Still, the longtime couple is able to find the humor in this already humorous situation. "The two days I was in Dallas, I would go to a restaurant to eat and the ladies were looking at me," he told his wife. "I thought they were looking at me like I was some monster."

"No, that's not how they were looking at you. They were like, 'I bet I can make him nice,'" she retorted.